Medical History, 1993, 37: 68-79. THE MISWAK, AN ASPECT OF DENTAL CARE IN ISLAM by GERRIT BOS * Gustav Nachtigal,l the famous nineteenth-century traveller and explorer of the Sahara and Sudan, relates that the women of Wadai, a region in the Sudan, rarely go out without their toothbrushes in the corner of their mouths. These toothbrushes are, as he says, prepared from the wood ofthe siwak (Salvadorapersica L.), which has been made fibrous at the end, and as soon as they sit down they use these brushes diligently. Reporting in an article in 1915 the information of Dr Meyerhof, an ophthalmologist who had practised for many years in Cairo, Wiedemann2 declares that the Nubians always carry with them a wooden stick ofabout 15 to 20 cm, called siwak, to which they probably owe their shiny white teeth. Von Luschan,3 a privy councillor from Berlin, informed him that this kind of wooden stick could be found not only among the Nubians, but throughout Africa, even among the most southern Bantu tribes. He also told him that there still were, or had been until recently, thousands ofcaravan-carriers who took nothing else with them but a gourd for water and a "msuaki" (= miswiik). Even nowadays pious Muslims belonging to the religious movement called Jamii'at al-tab7gh4 can often be seen wearing the siwak in their breast pockets, which they use on every suitable occasion. In this way, all these Muslims follow the example of their Prophet who according to the Hadith,5 was a fervent supporter of its use. The siwak was, according to him, a * Gerrit Bos, Ph.D., Research Fellow at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 183 Euston Road, London NWI 2BE. Some points in this article have also been discussed in Vardit Rispler-Chaim's 'The siwak: a medieval Islamic contribution to dental care', J. Royal Asiatic Soc., third series, vol. 2, Part 1, April 1992, pp. 13-20. ' G. Nachtigal, Sahara und Sudan, 3 vols, Leipzig, 1889, repr. Graz, Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 1967, vol. 3, p. 261. 2 Eilhard Wiedemann, 'Zahnarztliches bei den Muslimen', Aufsatze Zur arabischen Wissenschqfts- geschichte, 1970, 2: 181-3, p. 181. 3 Eilhard Wiedemann, 'Uber Zahnpflege bei den muslimischen Volkern', Gesammelte Schriften Zur Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaftsgeschichte, 1984, 2: 873-8, p. 874. Wiedemann originally published this article in 1918. Von Luschan recommended him not to translate misuiak as "Zahnbiirste" but as "Zahnpinsel". 4 On this religious movement founded in India in the middle of the nineteenth century see Anwarul Haq, The faith movement of Maulana Muhammad Ilyas, London, Allen and Unwin, 1972. I thank my friend Yasien Mohammad for this information. 5 For a survey and source references see A. J. Wensinck, A handbook ofearly Mohammadan tradition alphabetically arranged, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1927, p. 230, s.v. toothbrush. Idem, an article on the misw,ak in The encyclopaedia ofIslam, new edition, Leiden and London, E. J. Brill, 1960 (hereafter Encyclopaedia), vol. 68 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 02 Oct 2021 at 19:27:24, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025727300057690 The miswak, an aspect of dental care in Islam purgative for the mouth and a pleasure for Allah. When the Prophet came into his house he first of all used the siwiik.6 When he woke during the night, he cleansed his mouth with it, then washed himself and prayed.7 And the only reason he did not declare its use obligatory for the community before every salat (ritual prayer) was that he feared to burden his followers.8 His servant 'Abd Allah b. Mas'iid was called sahib al-siwak since he was the one who took care ofthe Prophet's siwak.9 When the Prophet was on his deathbed he cleansed his mouth with the siwak, after Aisha had chewed it so that it became smooth and soft.10 The extent to which the use of the siwik, in the Muslim mind, is associated with the Prophet, may be illustrated by the fact that the tree from which the siwak was prepared was called siwiik al-Nabil1 or "siwaik of the Prophet" in Algeria. In spite ofthe Prophet's example and the importance he attached to the use of the siwaik, Muslim law (Fiqh) did not make its use obligatory, but only desirable at all times.12 The kind of wood recommended for the preparation of the toothbrush called siwiik or miswak13 is that of the arcik14 tree. Abii Han1fa al-Dinawari, for instance, the ninth-century pharmacologist, states that this tree is best-known for the preparation 7, p. 187. It should be noted that these ha,adiths do not prove that the Prophet actually used the miswvak. It is perfectly possible that they merely try to give authenticity to a later practice by attributing it to the Prophet. For our purpose, however, it is important to realize that these hadi-ths are reflections of a practice current amongst the Muslims, and that these stories, once in vogue, probably strengthened the existing practice by using the Prophet as the model to be imitated. I thank Dr Lawrence Conrad for his valuable remarks on the interpretation of the different hadiaths cited. 6 Muslim, Tahara, trad. 43. 7 al-Bukhiri, Adhain, bib 8. 8 al-Bukhari, Juma, bab 8. 9 al-Bukhari, Fadai'il al-Sahaba, bab 20. 10 al-Bukhari Maghaz, ab 83. 1 Wiedemann, op. cit, note 2 above, p. 182. 12 See Wensinck's article on the miswaik, op. cit, note 5 above, for a detailed discussion about the use ofthe miswak according to Muslim law. 13 Neither term occurs in the Qur'an, and in Hadlith only siwak is used. In medical literature both occur. As the citation from Nachtigal shows, the term siwak is used for the toothbrush as well as for the tree from which it is made, which is also called arak; cf. R. Dozy, Supplment aux dictionnaires Arabes, 2nd ed., 2 vols, Leiden and Paris, Brill-Maisonneuve, 1927, vol. 1, p. 707, siwak: "est l'arbre qui porte aussi le nom de arak"; see also note 14 below. Moreover the term siwak is used for the act of brushing the teeth as the citations from al-Majiisl will show; cf. Wensinck's article on the miswak, op. cit., note 5 above. 14 "Der arak-Baum, eine Charakter-Pflanze der subtropischen Steppengebiete, ist Salvadora persica L., Zahnburstenbaum oder (im NT!) Senfbaum, Salvadoraceae. Sein zihfaseriges Zweigholz ist pinselartig ausgefranst und als Zahnbiirste (siwfik) verwendbar und geschitzt", cf. Albert Dietrich (ed.), Dioscurides triumphans. Ein anonymer arabischer Kommentar (Ende 12. Jahrh. n. Chr.) zur Materia medica, 5 books in 2 vols, Gottingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988, bk 3, no. 16. For other properties ascribed to this tree see D. Denham, Capt. Clapperton and Dr Oudney, Voyages et d&ouvertes dans le Nord et dans les parties centrales de l'Afrique, 3 vols, Paris, 1926, vol. 1, pp. 162-3: souag: "arbre de la t&andrie dont les baies rouges sont presque aussi bonnes que celles de la canneberge. La baie ou la drupe de cette arbre est tres recherchee dans le Bornou et le Soudan, parce qu'on lui attribue la vertu de faire cesser la sterilit&. I1 est douceatre et chaud au gout, a peu pres comme le cresson de fontaine. En passant pres de cette plante, on est toujours frappe d'une odeur forte et narcotique." See also Manfred Ullmann, 'Zum Verstandnis der "Dichterischen Vergleiche der Andalus-Araber"', Welt des Orients, 1977, 9: 108. In a scientific experiment carried out recently, English and Saudi researchers have shown that the wood of the arak tree prevents plaque and inflammation ofthe gums. This wholesome effect can be explained, they suggest, by the occurrence ofcertain chemicals in it, such as fluoride, tannins, and a resinous substance (see M. J. Gazi et al., 'The immediate- and medium-term effects ofMeswak on the composition ofmixed saliva', J. Clin. Periodontol., 1992,19:113-17). 69 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 02 Oct 2021 at 19:27:24, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025727300057690 Gerrit Bos of the miswak from its roots, branches and suru'.'5 Nachtigal'6 informs us that this kind of wood has the quality of making the breath of the women of Wadai sweet-smelling. Wiedemann17 states that the toothbrush used in Egypt is exclusively prepared from this wood. In addition to the ariik tree, al-Dinawari refers to other kinds oftrees, the wood ofwhich is good for the miswak, namely, balsam of Mecca, 8 ishil, 19 turpentine tree,20 nu'd,21 shathth,22 yasta'ar,23 roots of 'arfaj,24 darim,25 fruitstalks ('ariij7n) of the palm-tree, small or young palm-trees ('alaj), and leaves ofthe ruhiima.26 Al-Washshi',27 (d. 936) author ofthe K. al-muwashshai', a handbook for good manners and etiquette (Adab), mentions, besides the ariik tree, sugar-cane,28 roots of liquorice,29 wood of Prunus mahaleb L.,30 roots of lemon-grass,3' and the nodes of 1 Abui Hanifa Ahmad b. Dawiid al-Dinawari, K. al-nabat (Alif-Zay), ed. Bernhard Lewin, Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1974, p. 225. For the term suru' cf. E. W. Lane, An Arabic-English lexicon, 8 vols, London, Williams and Morgate, 1863-1879, vol. 4, p. 1679, s.v.